Words to live by this Earth Day

I USED TO SCOFF when my mother would talk about the power of words; of invisible, universal vibrations and vast forces beyond our control or understanding.

I fashioned myself an unflappable, no-nonsense realist, for a time at least, and no amount of pseudo-self-help bullshit was going to break down my barriers.

BY BRADEN DUPUIS

So when mom sent me for my birthday one year a box full of literal rocks, much scoffing and eye-rolling ensued.

Thanks for the rocks, mom.

But they weren’t just any rocks—each one came with a simple inscription: words like love, courage, joy, gratitude, and peace.

I set them aside, not thinking much of it other than I would have preferred some cash, or something more practical.

But over time I have come to understand the true power words can have on our day-today lives—and in turn, the wider world and the way we interact with it.

With Earth Day set for Saturday, April 22, it’s worth thinking about how this relationship plays out in our discussions about climate change. Are phrases like “heat dome” and “climate time bomb” and “irreversible consequences” helpful? Or are they just pushing more anxiety on an already-too-anxious populace?

In a recent episode of CBC’s Planet Wonder, climatologist Johanna Wagstaffe posed the question: Is talking about climate change actually making it worse?

The short answer is, yes—and not just anecdotally. A recent Gallup World Risk poll found global concern over climate change actually fell 1.5 per cent last year.

“How we talk about climate change matters. The way we talk about climate change right now is unfortunately not great for engaging people in this topic, because the current narrative on climate change is about doom and gloom,” behavioural psychologist Jiaying Zhao told CBC.

“The framing right now is very negative, and this negativity makes us feel anxious, depressed, withdrawn, so we’re actually not of what we hope people would do. And this is where we need to turn the narrative into a positive frame.”

One way to do that is by shifting the focus from personal sacrifice, which comes with inherent negative connotations and makes people feel shameful or guilty, to something more positive.

“Instead of saying ‘drive less,’ we should say, ‘drive more people.’ Why is that important? One, you are driving more people who would otherwise be driving by themselves, so you are saving the emissions by carpooling. Second, social connections, hanging out with friends and family in the car, actually can make you she said.

“That’s kind of the principle of happiness, is abundance reduces appreciation. Instead, we should make those, let’s say high-emission items, foods, or activities, a treat.”

The power of words goes well beyond how we frame discussions in the public square. The words we centre in our minds each day are active determinants in our underlying state of being, whether we realize it or not—which is what my mother was trying to explain to me by sending me inscribed rocks for my birthday.

And while I used to scoff, I have come to rely greatly on my rocks in recent years, rotating the words I need on a given day to effectively engaging with the topic.”

Zhao’s proposed alternative is called the “happy climate” approach—reframing the conversation around things we can do to reduce emissions that will also make us happy.

“I think the doom-and-gloom narrative is too heavy,” Zhao said. “It’s paralyzing. It makes us retreat and disengage. So the behavioural impact is actually the opposite feel happier, because social interaction is the No. 1 predictor of happiness around the world,” Zhao said.

“It’s not to say don’t drive, or drive less. No, drive as much as you want, but drive other people with you.”

Or, rather than saying “eat less meat,” we can pledge to “eat more plants,” Zhao added.

“Yeah, eat meat, but make it a treat,” the front of the pack; pushing those I’d rather forget, for now, to the back.

It’s not magic, or a cure-all. We cannot will good things into existence, or alter the fabric of reality with our words.

But we can, each and every one of us, be a force for positivity in the world, however we show up in it each day.

So choose your words carefully. ■

At H O M E I N N At U R E

3 B E D R O O M TOW N H O M E S I N S Q UA M I S H

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Whistler’s musicians and artists need your support

Can you remember your first season in Whistler? The first time you visited this place? The first time you went out for a night at The Boot? Maybe you saw The Hairfarmers at Merlin’s, or a Marble Canyon show at the GLC, or Monty Biggins and Kostas performing at the Whistler Ski and Snowboard Festival!

Whistler and its vibrant music community used to be synonymous with one another. People would come for all the incredible outdoor activities and stay for the creative and inspiring arts scene—a scene that would punch far above its weight for the size of our community.

Working in the arts and culture sector and being the frontman of a local band (The Big Love Band), I have seen first-hand the state of our live music scene here in Whistler and its recent decline. I personally went from performing one to two nights a week with a full band and another one to two nights solo, to this winter where I’m lucky to have two solo shows in a month. Musicians from across the Sea to Sky used to flock to Whistler for a chance to play one of the many lively venues only to now have Whistler locals commuting to Squamish and even the city (making enough to cover gas) for the chance to find a stage.

The decline in our local music scene should be something this community takes personally.

We need to foster our music community.

There needs to be investment in performance space, or incentives for existing spaces to provide a home to our local live musicians. Performers need rooms to practice their craft. Original work should be celebrated. To sum these ideas up, arts and culture needs to be funded! Some folks reading this might incorrectly interpret this as the art sector looking for handouts, but I would say that the revenue generated by a healthy music scene is proven. Cities around the world have recognized the benefits of supporting a thriving music ecology and industry. Vancouver was recently one such city that had seen a need and stepped up with its 10-year “Culture Shift” plan, which includes a “Vancouver Music Strategy” to put more supports in place to revitalize its industry. Now, I understand we are not a city, and Vancouver has a host of different challenges, but our tourism industry can stand alongside some pretty big players. The impact our music community could have on that industry alone seems like reason enough to start investing more into our live music sector.

Having been a tourist and knowing tourists (yes, they are just people who generally like similar things to you and me, haha) I can say that when visiting a new place it is important to me to have genuine interactions with that place and the people who live there. Can we honestly say, once visitors finish their daytime activities and evening meals (which we do really well), that our nightlife is a genuine expression of our village and our culture? I would argue that we have so much more to give and showcase.

I write this with an intention. That intention is not to join a chorus of negativity or to complain about how things “used to be,” but rather to try and inspire readers to embrace our creatives to make sure we can continue to work in the Sea to Sky!

What can we do to support our artists?

Well, we can book live music in our many venues, to start. When possible, consider the local talent we have right here in the Sea to Sky first. We can tell our elected officials that we want to see support for the arts and culture sector from our municipal government. It’s a fragile sector, but it is vital to the visitor experience (tourism), the community and its well-being.

We can add recorded material to our playlists both for individuals and businesses in town. The royalties earned through plays are not huge, but they do add up. It’s also important to have our songs heard here in town. Who knows? You might just find your new favourite tune! (On this note, you can find an all-Sea-to-Sky playlist under “This is Whistler” on Spotify.)

We can support organizations that continually work for arts and culture any way we can. That could be by considering donating to help fund programs or by volunteering your time to these organizations.

Most importantly, please try to make it to the shows. Have a look what’s happening in town and make the decision to go and support. It is vital to the success of venues to house these musicians, and guess what? It’s also way more fun than Netflix!

Please don’t stop supporting your artist friends. It’s a tough job, but without them, Whistler would feel a lot… quieter.

Van Meerbergen

Whistler Blackcomb spring ops spark frustration, disappointment

This letter was sent to Vail Resorts, and shared with Pique.

It was a friend’s birthday yesterday (Monday, April 17). He drove up from the city to ski on his birthday, as he does every year. When we arrived on Blackcomb we were shocked to see the lineup for the Excalibur Gondola at both mid-station and in the village, and wondered why the Blackcomb Gondola was not running. We decided to have a coffee and take it up a bit later. The lineup only got longer.

Whistler

Much to his disappointment, my friend decided to save the $169 it would have cost him to have three or four runs and return to Vancouver, however, there was no way to get back to the car in the upper parking lot without lining up in that giant lineup. Thankfully, a

Backcountry Update

AS OF TUESDAY, APRIL 18 April powder? We’ll take it! The weekend’s weather forecast calls for snow, strong wind, and cloudy skies. The freezing level will likely be between 1,500 to 2,000 metres, which means that alpine elevations should receive snow, while lower elevations may see a mix of rain and snow.

With the stormy weather, backcountry users should expect elevated danger ratings. Wind slabs and storm slabs are likely to develop, especially on steep alpine slopes.

To stay safe during stormy weather, it’s best to avoid high consequence terrain. What does high consequence mean? We’re talking about very steep or large slopes that could result in an injury or death. Think steep couloirs, large and open bowls where wide-propagating slabs could be triggered, or slopes with terrain traps such as cliffs, gullies, and crevasses.

To stay safe during stormy weather, it’s best to stick to low-angle terrain (less than 30 degrees) that doesn’t expose you to overhead slopes.

To stay safe in the backcountry during this stormy weather:

Stick to low-angle terrain (less than 30 degrees) that doesn’t expose you to overhead slopes.

Carefully monitor the bond between the new snow and old surface.

Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.

Be wary of ridgelines, where cornices could be present and could fail naturally or from your weight.

Enjoy these powder days while we still get them! ■

CONDITIONS MAY VARY AND CAN CHANGE RAPIDLY Check for the most current conditions before heading out into the backcountry. Daily updates for the areas adjacent to Whistler Blackcomb are available at 604-938-7676, or surf to www.whistlerblackcomb.com/mountain-info/ snow-report#backcountry or go to www.avalanche.ca.

St unning 5.5 bed home on the 15th hole of the Nick laus North Golf Course $5,695,000

12 Foxglove

• 3 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom

• Blackcomb Benchlands; close to golf course & ski hill

• Spacious living space with vaulted ceilings

• Two levels, wood fireplace $2,249,000 bed, 2 bath, 973 sqft – Best 1/4 share building in Whistler Horstman House offers owners 1 week each month which you can use personally or have the front desk rent it on your behalf Property is fully equipped has in-house management and is turn key Only a short 5 min walk to Lost Lake, Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Course and you can ski home Amenities include; Free shuttle, heated outdoor pool, gym hot tub bbq area ski & bike lockers and secured underground parking friend who also decided to give up on skiing that day was able to give us a ride.

The guest experience on a scale of one to 10 was -10. What kind of operation are you running? I know you’ve made your money for the season by selling a crap load of Epic Passes. But that doesn’t give you the right to shortchange your customers by shutting down more than half your upload capacity and not running Glacier Chair and not running 7th Heaven until 1 p.m. that day. There was a lot of standing in line and very little skiing.

I was very disappointed for my friend. You managed to ruin his birthday, and I’m probably done skiing for the season. I was looking forward to some good spring skiing on Blackcomb in the coming month, but with only a fraction of the lifts open, it’s not really worth my while. I’ve stood in line long enough this year.

I’m sure your excuse will be that you are unable to hire staff to run all the lifts, but that’s a tired, old ditty we’ve all heard before. If you can’t hire enough staff, you obviously have a problem with your business plan. I don’t know, but I’m just going out on a limb here with the suggestion that you might not be paying enough for people to feasibly afford to live and work in Whistler. This is a problem you need to resolve—yesterday.

With disgust,

Paul vanPeenen // Whistler

Skiing should be fun, not frustrating

Last Monday, April 17, I woke up to new snow on the ground and fairly clear skies. I checked the Whistler Peak site and there was almost 30 centimetres of new snow in the last 24 hours. I was super pumped to have a great pow day. I texted my bud in Revy bragging about the new snow, rubbing it in since Revy just closed.

All good, I parked and started walking to the Excalibur Gondola and very quickly my excitement turned to disappointment. Usually, after Whistler closes, you can walk right onto the Blackcomb lifts, but this was not the case on Monday. At first glimpse, I could see there were a lot of people in line, and as I kept walking I could see the line kept going and going. I decided to see if I could find the end of it, and it was at Lululemon, but going in the opposite direction from the gondola.

At that point, I couldn’t see the end, and gave up and went to The Lift for a latte. Many disappointed people were there, and a friend advised me that the Blackcomb Gondola, along with the Glacier chair, were now closed for the season—even though the season isn’t over. (Editor’s note: Blackcomb Gondola is operating on weekends only; Glacier Express was closed on Monday, April 17, but running the next day).

In more than 55 years of skiing in Whistler, I don’t think I have ever been so disappointed and frustrated about going skiing. It shouldn’t be this way. Skiing is supposed to be fun and worry-free, not frustrating. This lineup was as long as some of the lines in the ’70s and ’80s when the only way up was in the tin can, but back then tickets were a fraction of what they are today. Skiing is supposed to improve with the new lifts and equipment they have today, not get worse.

I don’t know what a skier or rider who lives in a ski town is supposed to do when you can’t even get up your local mountain in a reasonable amount of time; it makes no sense. Blackcomb has an almost new gondola just sitting there unused that would eliminate this issue. What are we paying for these days?

Since Day 1, many of us skiers living in Whistler and the Lower Mainland have been skiing in Whistler until the end of the May long weekend, nothing new. We are paying customers, too, and deserve and expect to have a better quality of service even once the other Epic ski resort customers are gone. That’s what we paid for. Before Vail Resorts took over, the services and operations were never cut back to this level at this time of year.

Is Vail Resorts engaging in false advertising?

You can’t say you have so many lifts and hundreds of runs if the lifts are not running or runs are not being maintained or groomed. Vail should advise customers that it only operates lifts and maintains and grooms runs and opens restaurants according to how much profit the company wants to take back to its American CEO and shareholders, like a letter writer who advised us in an earlier issue of Pique that skiers and riders need to stop whining and invest in Vail (“Letter: Vail Resorts hate is getting boring,” Pique, Feb. 27). Seems funny that someone living in Whistler would rather see profit from a stock than enjoy the incredible mountains we have. There are thousands of companies to invest in. Vail Resorts would be the last one I would invest in, just for how it treats its customers. Vail Resorts makes our cellphone companies look like angels. Something needs to be done. I don’t know what the answer is. A Skier’s Bill of Rights? A lawsuit, as this is the American way? But Vail Resorts probably has more lawyers on staff than ski people. That letter writer is right about one thing: complaining doesn’t do any good. If my company was being slagged constantly, I would at least have someone from the company address customers’ concerns and try to make improvements. Remaining silent is deafening, and inaction is worse.

I can see why many people have moved out of Whistler to other ski towns owned by independents or Canadian companies. I have considered this too, but I’m too rooted in this town. As mentioned before, I sure hope Vail Resorts and the Alterra Mountain Company, owner of the Ikon Pass, don’t buy all our ski resorts. That will be the end of skiing as we know it.